Spam and malware are on the rise. How do you protect yourself?

From all the recent attacks, there has been an increase in spam and malware in 2014. This is extremely dangerous as your data and privacy are at risk but how do you protect yourself?

Security experts are estimating that spam is up year over year and more cyber criminals have shifted their focus in hopes of preying on the weakest link in the security. IT support services professionals and cybercriminals alike know that the weakest chain in any network is the end users and now Instead of seeking to compromise servers, operating systems and firewalls, cybercriminals are now sending out sophisticated phishing scams and spoofs that exploit users.

The best defense from spam and malware is simple, train and educate users from threats.

Education is always the first step but here are some more steps to protect your business:

Always check who the email is from as most spam will come from an unrecognizable sender. Please keep in mind that sometimes they may spoof or hijack an email address that and send out emails to their contacts.

Check the spelling of the email and domain. One common trick is for cybercriminals to use spelling mistakes in order to create the illusion of a proper email address.

Does the email contain a strange link or ask you to checkout something completely random? There are email scams that try to get you to click a link or download a file. When in doubt, verify your contact send you the actual email.

The good old attachment. IT support services professionals and managed IT services providers proactive manage networks so malware and viruses stay out however nothing is 100%. Never download an attachment from a sender you don’t trust and once again, verify with your contact if you are in doubt.

So how do you protect yourself from Malware and Spam?

If you do not have a dedicated IT department or managed IT services provider and get infected, these are some steps you should take to clean your system.

Make sure your system is up-to-date with all patches.

Verify you are using and active security solution that proactively manages the risk from malware, email spam as well as viruses.

365 iT SOLUTIONS is a leading managed services provider (MSP) in Toronto with more than 10 years of experience serving small-to-medium sized businesses.